Voo Doo is a humor publication written by students at MIT. Voo Doo was started in 1919 and is typically published once a term. [1] The most recent version of Voo Doo was published in the Spring of 2014 although the future of the paper is a bit uncertain. [2] There is a full archive of Voo Doo online as well as full scanned versions of the publications that I have shared below. [3]

The Hall Hoag collection contains a lot of material published by students of universities as universities became hotbeds for activism in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. What is interesting about Voo Doo  (at least in the 70s) is that although it does have humorous sections a lot of the topics covered are similar to what you might see in other student run papers at the time, including divestment in South Africa without taking much of a humorous take on the issues.

Voo Doo (Oct. 12, 1972)

Voo Doo Back Page (Oct. 12, 1972)

[1] http://wiki.mitadmissions.org/Voo_Doo_Magazine

[2] http://web.mit.edu/voodoo/www/news.html

[3] http://web.mit.edu/voodoo/www/news.html

Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers was an anarchist group started in the late 1960s in New York City by Ben Morea and the poet Dan Georgakas prior to groups like the Weather Underground and the Yippies. They were a counter culture group that was “opposed to and resisted on principle any attempt to impose order on the political demonstrations they participated in.” Although primarily in New York, the group spread to other cities like Boston (where the items below are from). By the early 1970s the group was more or less dissolved. [1]

For more information read this interview with Ben Morea: https://libcom.org/history/against-wall-motherfucker-interview-ben-morea

Up Against The Wall (Unknown Date)

Up Against The Wall (Unknown Date)

Up Against The Wall (Unknown Date)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Against_the_Wall_Motherfuckers

The Izaak Walton League of America is an environmental and outdoor recreation organization founded in 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. The group is named after Izaak Walton, the “father of fly fishing.”[1] The league was involved in getting the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the  National Forest Management Act of 1976 passed. [2] The image below comes from the Indiana Division of the Izaak Walton League, one of the many regional divisions of the organization. The Indiana Division has about 5,000 members and has worked on a variety of projects including[3]:

1. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
2. Hoosier National Forest
3. Boundary Waters Wildlife Wilderness Campaign
4. Indiana Remains Nuclear-Free
5. Nature Preserves Act
6. Grand Kankakee – Path To Restoration
7. Indiana’s Wabash River
8. Indiana Natural, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act
9. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, National Elk Refuge
10. Phosphorous Ban
11. Patoka Refuge

The pamphlet below contains some 1966 resolutions from the Indiana Division.

Izaak Walton League (May 1966)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izaak_Walton_League

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izaak_Walton_League

[3] http://www.in-iwla.org/history/history.htm

In Ain’t Me Babe was a radical feminist newspaper started by the Berkeley Women’s Liberation in the Berkeley, California in 1970.[1] Trina Robbins who wrote an underground comic with the same name was also involved with the newspaper.[2] This is one of many small organizations and publications that made up the larger women’s liberation movement that was beginning at the time. Indeed, the publication saw itself as part of this wider movement stating: “We must keep in mind that we are a movement not an organization. Our movement can and will be composed of many action organizations differentiated by their political orientation — rather than a single organization that attempts to represent everyone’s politics.”[3][4]

Papers like It Ain’t Me Babe were created to give voices to women who felt stifled by the larger mail dominated new left publications.[5]

It Ain’t Me Babe (December 1970)

It Ain’t Me Babe (December 1970 Back Cover)

[1] http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/02/between-feminism-and-the-underground/

[2] http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/02/between-feminism-and-the-underground/

[3]http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Women%27s_Liberation_Origins_and_Development_of_the_Movement

[4] “The Women’s Movement,” It Ain’t Me, Babe, March 15, 1970, p. 2.

[5] http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/02/between-feminism-and-the-underground/

Continuing with the A/V material, this weeks item is an audio cassette tape created by Noah Fredericks as part of his Pilgrim Ships series. Although it is hard to find much biographical information about Fredericks online, the general concept of the Pilgrim Ships series is that people from the Old Testament are actually aliens who descended to Earth.[1]

You can listen to the audio of the first tape of the series by clicking the image below:

Tape One Pilgrim Ships Series – Noah Fredericks

[1] http://www.reformedreader.org/gbn/igb.htm

Inspiration Books East, Inc. or IBE, Inc. was founded in 1980 out of Jemison, Alabama. IBE is an independent (meaning that it is not affiliated with a particular church or sect) Christian publication that covers a range of topics from religious conspiracies, the coming apocalypse, angels and self-help.

It is hard to find much information online but according to IBE’s website:

“For more than 25 years, IBE has been publishing the “Good News” of Jesus Christ, with special emphasis upon “the sure word of prophecy” foretelling the soon return of Christ to Earth as “King of kings” according to the promise of Scripture.”[1]

The images below come from a 1980s pamphlet about the New World Order, a conspiracy theory revolving around a small group of elites running the world.[2] Full text can be found here.

IBE Cover

IBE Back Cover

[1] http://theperfectstorm.inbookseast.org/aboutuspagehtml.html

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_%28conspiracy_theory%29

Political Affairs was started in 1944 by the Communist Party USA, in New York, New York as a replacement for the publication The Communist. Political Affairs was theoretical publication mostly intended for members of the Communist Party providing “Marxist perspectives on many contemporary issues.”[1] Founded in 1919, The Communist Party, USA is the largest communist party in the United States having about 2,000 members currently, but nearly 200,000 at its peak.[2]

Political Affairs (April 1984)

Political Affairs (December 1985)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Affairs_%28magazine%29

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_USA

In These Times was first started in 1976 by James Weinstein in Chicago, Illinois as a biweekly newspaper. Published by the Institute For Public Affairs, In These Times is now a magazine. [1] According to their website Weinstein started the left-wing progressive publication to “identify and clarify the struggles against corporate power now multiplying in American society.”[2] Over the years some well known people have contributed to the publication including: Garrison Keillor, Noam Chomsky and Kurt Vonnegut. In These Times “regularly reports on environmental issues, feminism, grassroots democracy, minority communities, progressive ideals and the media.”[3]

The issue shown below includes coverage of the National Women’s Conference held in Houston, Texas in 1977.

In These Times (December 1977)

In These Times (December 1977)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_These_Times

[2] http://inthesetimes.com/about

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_These_Times